Well, We're not moving to Montana, of Indiana, or, at the moment, anywhere. It's been a long and frustrating couple of weeks while we've waited to hear on John's job prospects, and now we have answers, just not the ones we were expecting.

It's hard not to be disappointed. Ever since I was laid off, and we found out about baby #2, we've bee looking for the next step in our lives, and trusting in the Lord to show it to us. We really felt like these moves were the answer. We love DC, be we were hoping to move somewhere more... affordable. We're ready for the stability a lower costs of living will bring. But, I guess that's not the plan right now. The Lord seems to be asking us to wait yet a little longer.

This is hard. My unemployment runs out before the baby comes, and John will be on unemployment for most of June and July. As it is, his salary and my unemployment were keeping us afloat. I need another job, but no one wants to hire someone less than three months from giving birth. Hopefully I can find something shortly after the baby comes, but then there's the question of affordable child care. Too much, and my entire salary goes for that. There's also the added cost of a bigger place. I was really enjoying the thought of a 2 bedroom, with a washer and dryer, for 1/2 of what we're paying for a 1 bedroom and 4 flights of stairs to the laundry room. But not around here... =)

There is a bright spot in all of this though. As we've received our "no"s this week, we've both kept praying, and today, we both had the same thought. I picked up John from the Metro, and said "I've been thinking..." He said: "I think I should take an AutoCAD course this summer." Taking the words right out of my mouth! So many of the jobs we've seen that he hasn't been able to apply for were because he was missing this certification. I guess for now, that's what we need to do. Focus on John's continuing education and skillset, and then we can look again.

For now, we're still praying, since that doesn't really solve the immediate financial problems, but we finally feel like we have a "yes" to go with all the "no"s. Please pray as we continue our search. We'll keep you posted.

Blogging again...

So, I'm going to try to write more often again. My Praxis is behind me (except for the score), which I spent obscene amounts of time studying for, and which took me 40 minutes to go over and answer all of the questions twice. My husband told me if he'd spent anywhere near the amount of time studying that I did, his college GPA would have been a 4.0 =) But the test went well, even if the administrators were ridiculously unorganized.

After the test on Saturday, Timothy and I attended Calista's 2nd Birthday party, where lots of fun was had by all. Especially the birthday girl, who I think managed to sneak at least 5 cupcakes from under her Mommy's nose. Here are the cute friends, enjoying the good food. =)
















Since then, a heat wave has hit us. Temps were in the 90s for 4 days... in April! It didn't help that we're on the 4th floor of our building, with no AC, and heat rises. We were pretty miserable, and spent as much time as possible out of the house -- at the library, the park, houses of friends with AC -- so were able to manage during the day.

At playgroup yesterday, Timothy discovered "bubble flowers" and amused himself for a good 15 minutes with a field next to the playground. He even brought some flowers to the other kids (mostly girls) so they could blow the flowers too. So cute! Here's some of his "little house on the prairie" shots... =)



































Anyway, now that the weather has blessedly turned, and I feel human again, I have lots to catch up on: Cleaning, blogging, finding the desk... So hopefully I'll be able to post more often. I'll try anyway. =)

It's Officially....

Another boy! The ultrasound was quite conclusive. Timothy is getting a baby brother. He seems pretty happy with it. Or at least with the pictures. Check it out. =)



The ultrasound place was really nice. I hadn't been here before, and they were very thorough. I came away with 14 pictures, 4 of which were in 3D, so we got some unique shots. I was quite impressed

We're excited to be having a healthy baby boy. I am a little sad that this great blanket pattern I found will have to wait, but mostly, we just wanted a healthy baby. And I think the boys will grow up together well. I did make a joke about 1/2 a hockey team to John...

Anyway, here's some of the shots. For more of them, you can check out our flickr page. Enjoy!

Easter Sunday

"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why then are they then baptized for the dead?" -1 Corinthians 15:29

As we have been approaching this Easter Sunday this particular verse of scripture has been weighing heavily on my mind. Growing up, Easter Sunday was always a bit of a miff to me. I always wondered why it changed days. Why we got pictures taken with a bunny and what in the world was up with the Easter baskets (although I love the peeps that come in my Easter basket every year, including this year...thanks Margaret!)

It seemed to me that we went to church on Sundays because that was the day of the week that Jesus rose from the grave, so why in the world did we need to have one special day to celebrate this, instead of remembering, every Sunday, the victory that Christ had over death.

This year, as I have said, this one verse has weighed particularly heavy on my mind and on my heart. As I have thought about it, I've begun to realize the full meaning behind this one very powerful verse of scripture.

Not only did Christ rise from the dead, gaining his victory over death and hell, but his rising has ensured that we, too, will one day rise from the dead and be united with our Heavenly Father and with our families.

This verse is the basis behind a lot of work that we, as members of the LDS church, do in the temple. Without the resurection of Christ, all of our work that we do in the temple would be in vain, for we could have no power over death. However, as Paul argues in 1Corinthians, not only has Christ risen from the tomb, but because of his ressurection, we too, can have the victory over death.

What a comfort to know, that as our loved ones pass away, this world is not the end. We have the bright hope that one day we will see them again. And this time they will not be confined to the weak and frail bodies that we have seen so many struggle with while on this earth, but rather in a perfected state, walking the streets of glory, singing with the chorus of angels, and seeing the Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer face to face.

I think that this year, for the first time in my life, I've begun to truly understand the special spirit that Easter brings. I am so thankful for the gift of my Saviour, and the sacrifice he has made to allow me to have the victory over death.

Bye-Bye Baby Locks....

Well, I finally did it. I buckled down and gave my son a big boy haircut. It shouldn't have been that traumatic, but I guess I just wasn't ready to let the baby look go. He looked so cute with it! (See "before picture...)
The decision was taken out of my hands, however, when the scissors became a source of terror anywhere near his head, and I had to resort to clippers and bites of snack to keep him still enough to trim.

So, here he is, big boy cut and all. Even though Mommy will miss the baby locks, he still looks cute, and will probably be a lot cooler this summer... =)